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Red Sox exhale after Lowrie's error

Red Sox exhale after Lowrie's error

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By T.R. Sullivan
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MLB.com |

ANAHEIM -- The baseball found Red Sox rookie shortstop Jed Lowrie in the third inning on Wednesday. That's normally a good thing for the Red Sox.

Not this time.

Lowrie bobbled the ground ball for an error and it almost cost the Red Sox, but they were able to rally for a 4-1 victory over the Angels in Game 1 of the American League Division Series at Angel Stadium. The error was Lowrie's first as a Major League shortstop.

"I just rushed a little bit, I think I was trying to flip the ball to second before I fielded it," Lowrie said in the Red Sox's clubhouse afterward. "It kind of looked for a while there like it might be the difference."

Lowrie, playing in his first career playoff game, had established a Major League record by handling 155 chances at shortstop without an error in 49 games during the regular season. But he started at 0-for-1 in the playoffs.

The play occurred in the third inning after Garret Anderson's one-out single to center. Red Sox left-hander Jon Lester then struck out Mark Teixeira. Vladimir Guerrero followed with a ground ball that Lowrie bobbled to keep the inning alive. Torii Hunter made the error hurt with a single to left to give the Angels a 1-0 lead.

"When the ball doesn't end up where it's supposed to, they score," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. "We gave them an extra out and they scored -- that's the type of team they are. It was a tough play. He got ahead of himself a little bit."

That was the only run that Lester gave up, and Jason Bay picked up Lowrie with a two-run home run in the sixth inning. The Angels weren't happen that they didn't make Lowrie's error hurt more.

"That was a big chance for us right there," Hunter said. "Lester pitched a good game, but we helped him out early. We needed to score more right there.

T.R. Sullivan is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.